Based in Northamptonshire Mak Software is a small independent studio ran by Malcolm Sparrow currently developing iOS products for clients. However, the dream of the studio has always been to develop their own game content, and Dominion represents the first real chance to engage their dream now that Kickstarter.com has opened up a doorway to potential funding. Were excited, and scared all at the same time, said Malcolm. The chance to produce Dominion is a real exciting challenge, but the knowledge were asking people to part with their hard earned cash upfront is daunting, and fills you with an awful sense of responsibility far more so than when dealing with a publisher in fact! Their Kickstarter.com project invites everyone to at least take a look if they have an interest, and then also to pass it on to anyone else who might be.

Dominion itself is an episodic space-game, set across a compelling story stretching across over 200,000 years. Although the story drives the games evolution (both in plot and game technology), the player is not required to be involved and can just be one of the prolific cast that Mak Software are hoping will join the adventure. We want to deliver something that finally lets the player be a part of the story, even if only in a small way, supplies Malcolm. But we dont want to lock the player into a rigid path of do-this-to-get-that and fail-retry all the time, we want them to play their own way, and do their own thing.

That may involve running a space station, or a colony, or perhaps commanding a trading fleet, or even a war fleet. Dominion aims to avoid restricting the player, and providing the core-tools and mechanics to allow them to almost generate their own gameplay if they choose. However your actions will have direct consequences to other players, even though initially the game is not an MMO. A space station being destroyed could well collapse the trade routes used by peaceful players. If such behaviour gets out of hand and players decide to go on a rampage destroying all space stations they come across then the Empire is always at hand to stamp out any rebellious activities.

One key aspect which the studio are hoping will set it aside from other products, is their world-wide open-armed welcome to game developers to produce content for the game universe. Ships, terrain textures - even collaboration on the species which inhabit Dominion - it's all up for grabs. "Any and all are welcome," says Andy - the Lead Artist. "We're after anyone who knows how to push a vertex or a pixel. Anyone who's a frustrated Spacecraft builder is top of my list!". Although this 'contribution' would initially be for free - the owner is keen to point out that this effort will be rewarded as soon as it's possible. "This attempt at 'crowd-development' is a bit cheeky, but we're not expecting something for nothing. At the least it would get the game free for life, and if we get into earning revenue - we'll buy the content off you!" See their Content Author page for further details.

Mak Softwares Kickstarter pitch will close on December 20th, 09:52 GMT as of the time of writing it has 24 days to go to achieve the target funding required for the project. So far it has been received well by those who have backed it. Were deeply passionate about Dominion, says Malcolm. We know we can deliver an awesome experience all we need is the good-will of people on Kickstarter.com to back us. Im confident that if people come and see our pitch, they will like what they see!